Story+1988-06-21+Birmingham,+England

´´So how´s the springtime in Birmingham ? (cheers) yeah, you get some sun out here ? yeah ? (cheers) it reminds me of New Jersey around here....back home around this time of, this time of year I like to get outside a little bit, take a walk in the park, take my jacket off....see if any of my old friends are still around....hey, hey, man, what you doing ? alright ! (chuckles) good to see you (chuckles) what´ve you been up to ? yeah, yeah, I ain´t seen you in a long time, what´ve you been doing ?....what´ve you got ? Ah.....we´ve got pictures of the little Big Man here....how old ? three years old, three years old, he´s got his own apartment....got a little saxophone....got a lot of girlfriends already....he´s almost as handsome as his daddy (chuckles) oh yeah, he looks good.....man, I remember I was with you the night you met your wife....we were, where were we ? we were overseas....that´s right.....and this nice looking girl comes walking in and Clarence checks her out....and I can always tell when he´s serious ´cause if he sees a girl he likes, the first thing he does is he runs into the bathroom....and he, and he checks himself all out and he used to have this patchuli oil, you know what that stuff is ? you splash it all over you, you know, he´d come out looking real good.....and I´d stand next to him and I´d listen to him.....and I could (chuckles) and he´d be there talking, you know, being a whole lot nicer than he really is, you know (chuckles)(?) but it was nice, you know....man, we used to stay out all night long too.....used to go out in them clubs and jam ....gotta go home now (chuckles) you wanna do it tonight ? you wanna stay out late tonight (?) ? you ready to stay out late tonight ? (cheers) that´s good, sing it, guys, come on, man, bring that thing with you, alright (chuckles)....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ´All That Heaven Will Allow´**

´´How you doing out there ?.....That´s good....there was this guy and this girl...they,uh, they met in this little...bar down along the coast....on a weekday night.....they were, uh ....he was a house painter...he was kinda young....and she was a little older....and he was out looking for some fun and....she was looking, I guess, for somebody....some-body to love her....and they met in this little shot-and-beer bar....and they started going out with each other and she, I remember her always talking how she really...she really liked him, he was....was kinda sweet-tempered guy, you know, always, uh....you know, acting silly and...telling stupid jokes ...just to get her smiling...and uh.... eventually they got a garage apartment in a little beach town about two blocks down off the beach in the wintertime....two or three rooms up over top of this garage...and things were going real good....and she got pregnant....they were making plans to be married....and he started to save his money for the first time....and he went downtown, he saved his....he saved his pay and he went downtown, he got her a ring and he brought it back home and surprised her...and they called up their parents and told their folks and....she went down and picked out a dress....and then I guess....something happened, I guess maybe he was a little too young...but he got scared....and he took off....but she never really let him go...she kept him in her mind....and she kept him in her heart and at night, when she got in bed and closed her eyes, it was....she saw his face...and his things were still....were still there and left lying around....and the only problem was....was that he wasn´t ever coming back....and there comes a time when you gotta take that past.....no matter how much you love it and you gotta put it away ....or else the world just, just takes those old dreams and breaks your heart....day in and day out....so this is a song about a woman trying to understand the value of her own individual existence....and the value of the life of her child...trying to throw down them old dreams and find something new and beautiful in her life now....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ‘Spare Parts’**

´´Is there anybody alive out there tonight ? (cheers) is there anybody that can feel the living spirit rising again tonight ? (cheers)....that´s good because I´ve got a question that I want to ask you.....and what I wanna know is are there any brave, courageous Birmingham men out there in the audience tonight ? (cheers) do we have any macho men out there tonight ? (cheers) oh yeah, oh yeah.....me, I´ve seen men, men that would, that would.....walk through fire, that would swim rivers, that would climb mountains, that would wrestle with the beasts of the jungle....am I talking ´bout you ?....but there was one thing that they was afraid of.... and I´m gonna tell you what that one thing was.....there was one thing that scared them to death.....you wanna know what that was ?....do you wanna know what that was ? (cheers) I´m talking about L-U-V, I´m talking about love....love scared ´em to death.....when they got next to love, they ran home to their mommies like little babies....now, girls, I´m talking to you too....do we have any heroic, sexy Birmingham women out there tonight ? (cheers) do we have any courageous young ladies out there tonight ? (cheers) come on, let me hear you, girls (cheers) because the same goes for you, I´ve known women that would jump from an airplane at 30,000 feet but when they got next to love, when they got next to love, they grew frightened....they got scared and they ran away, they ran away from that thing that they loved ....now, I´m not here tonight to point my finger at you because I´ve got a confession that I have to make....and what I wanna say is I have sinned !....I have sinned !.....and I don´t need no Jimmy Swaggert to forgive me....that man can kiss my ass, baby....what I´m down here tonight to say is....I´m a brave man....but what I´ve got to confess to is....that I´m a coward when it comes to love.....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ‘I´m a Coward´**

´´Thanks....oh.....nice to be back in England.....this next song, I guess I sang this song the first time I came over in 1975....ooh, we were scared, you know (chuckles) we´d never been out of the States....never been out of the state just about (chuckles)....I had this song, I wrote it when I was 24 years old, I was sitting on the end of my bed in this little town in New Jersey....was a little beach town....and uh, I guess it surprises me, I´ve sung it, I guess, every night I´ve ever played since I wrote it and uh, it surprises me how much I knew about my life back then when I was that young because the questions that I asked myself in this song, I´ve been chasing down the answers to ever since....and I guess as I´ve grown up, this song´s kind of grown up with me....way back in 1974 I took this guy and this girl and I put ´em in this car....and I guess I thought I was writing about a song where they wanted to run and keep on running and never come back.....was, uh, was a nice romantic idea (chuckles) but uh, I guess it don´t work out like that....´cause I realised when I put them in the car, somehow I got in with ´em....and over the years I put all these people in all these cars and as I got older I realised I had to figure out someplace for ´em to go....to know where I was going....so anyway, I guess that guy and that girl, they went out looking for some connection, looking for some place maybe that they could call ´home´....and as I got older I realised that home wasn´t over the next hill or it wasn´t on the street I grew up but that it was buried deep down inside of me somewhere....and that if I had the guts.....maybe I could find it and get a little piece of it....so I´d like to sing this for you tonight, this song´s kept me good company on my search, I hope it´s kept you good company on yours....and I´d like to do it for you, wishing you all love, home and happiness.....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ‘Born to Run´**

´´You´re looking a little tired to me....you look just a little tired....oh yeah, I can see all the signs, you know....you start leaning on each other....you look just, I think, a little too tired now, man....are you sure ? (cheers) are you sure ? (cheers) are you sure ? (cheers) then I got a question I wanna ask you....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ‘Sweet Soul Music´**

´´Are you ready for a little religious liberation ? (cheers) are you ready for a little spiritual affirmation ? (cheers) are you ready for a little sexual consummation ? (cheers) then just raise your hand one time..... (....) Is there something that you need out there ? (cheers) is there something that you want ? (cheers) is there something that deep down in your heart you´ve got to have ? (cheers) then show a little guts and just raise your hand....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ´Raise Your Hand´**

´´(?) the cops are gonna come and get us all....(?)....let´s break out the old warhorse here.....”
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, intro to ´Twist and Shout´**

´´On the piano, Professor Roy Bittan....on the drums, the Mighty Max Weinberg.....on the guitar, just turned 19, the great Nils Lofgren.....on the guitar and vocals, Miss Patti Scialfa.... on the organ, Phantom Dan Federici....on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W.Tallent....in the back, out of New Jersey, Eddie Manion, Richie La Bamba, Mark ´The Love Man´, Mike, Mario Cruz, the Horns of Love.....and last but not least.....the greatest man in the history of Western civilization....and the handsomest man that Birmingham has ever seen.....Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons on the saxophone....´´
 * 21.06.88 Birmingham, England, middle of ´Light of Day´**

//Compiled by : Johanna Pirttijärvi//